WHO AM I – THE WAY

WHO AM I – THE WAY

As already mentioned, but it needs to be reminded, the question “Who am I” can never be answered at the level of the rational mind,

only when we wholeheartedly accept this, and accepted it also

at the emotional level the mind can be transcended

at last finally revealing the Answer.

In the ancient, well known metaphor of the caterpillar becoming a butterfly, the point is that

a caterpillar that seeks to know himself as such remains attached

to his qualities and skills as a caterpillar

will never become a butterfly.

a) This means that instead of concentrating on the ”caterpillar”,

that is, on the self-image and personality that we have been identified with so far, and although to a lesser extent are still,

we should concentrate on the butterfly that we are

in the process of becoming.

Ever tried that?

It pays off.

How?

As someone advised,

When everyone is speaking Caterpillar, don’t be afraid

of speaking Butterfly

Once you have found out who you really are, or are close to it, with a silent mind and a state of perfect equanimity,

you will feel like as if you had just left a crowded, dirty, noisy and violent ghetto

to find yourself like on top of the Himalayas

on a sunny day.

The main problem is that

our inner being is beyond the fourth dimension, therefore cannot be experienced by our ordinary perception apart from some subliminal insights and blissful feelings in those who have already reached a certain level on the Path.

When you inquire “Who am I?”, if you are honest,you’ll notice that it takes you right back to Silence instantly.

The brain doesn’t have an answer,so

all of a sudden there is Silence.

d) Sometimes when contemplating an intense sunset,

a wonderful landscape,

gazing into a the eyes of a child or someone close to us, listening to high music, etc, at times our mind falls silent and before it begins chattering all over again for a moment which is very brief by the watch but so long inwardly we are our true self.

You are a manuscript of a divine letter.You are a mirror reflecting a noble face.This universe is not outside of you.Look inside yourself; everything thatyou want, you are already that.

The Kabuli:

When the Kabuli was asked by someone who wished to provoke him whether He was a true Faithfull or not He replied:

If I say yes, Allah would certainly laugh at me, but if I said no

I would be lying: why don’t you ask me how many

dates I had for breakfast instead?

What does this tell you?

The Devil’s Advocate:

Finding out who you really are, if you could ever manage it – your chances of success are much smaller than winning the National Lottery or of the chance of a snowflake in Hell – would be the most TERRIFYING thing that could happen to you and drive you mad because then you would realize that you are only a swamp of desires, ideas, fears, hesitations and little pleasures.

Listen to me: it is in your best interests to remain in your abysmal ignorance and never find it out!

Or you will be in a whole lot of trouble, much more than you would be able to handle!

“I always thought that I was me – but no, I was Youand never knew it!” Rumi

“All that is other than the true “I”

must be slain.” Rumi

How will you slay it?

It is not that as difficult as it seems at first.

Unless you are too identified with the part that must be slain, that is.

Ha ha ha ha!

Living it:

From the Quest:

When we tell our students to dis-identify themselves from their body, self-image, and all that they have been in general and concentrate on this question, who am I? at first they see nothing at all and tend to give up.

His answer may seem a tautology, but it has deeper and deeper levels of meaning and could have been given by a great Zen master!

Once he asked me something very personal about myself which I didn’t want to tell him so I just said that I wasn’t sure, but he laughed and replied:

If you want to know what you think of yourself, all you must do

is to observe what you think of others!

He then added something to the effect that I thought little of most people, even despised them, and therefore of myself as well.

Then he just left me to reflect on that.

The Italian expression for it is a bit gross but can be translated as: “Take it and bring it home!”

These days I keep meditating on these words of Ramana Maharshi:

“Self-Inquiry brings you to the place where you inquire,“Who am I?”But it is not the “Who am I?” that wakes you up.

It is the silence after you ask“Who am I?”

It is this silence that I am trying to remain.

From the old Poems:

Alas, on far too many tangled threads apuppet

am I still, by sleepwalkers surrounded

in a daze stumbling all around, loud, demanding, and I

until so recently one of them as but empty masks

see them now, of some hidden Design symbols

and facets all whose meaning keeps eluding me…

Question/Ko’han 1 and 2:

If you have read this far you should be aware that

you do not yet really know who you are.

What prevented you so far from discovering it?

How will you find it out?

Question/Ko’han 3:

According to Thoreau,

it is as hard to see one’s self as to look backwards

without turning around.

How good are you at turning around?

Question/Ko’han 4 and 5:

S. Suzuki said that

What we call “I” is just a swinging door which moves

when we inhale and exhale.

How so?

What does it imply?Question/Ko’han 6 and 7:

The Amrita Sutra asks:

Would a person ignorant of his own presence wander across

various countries in search of himself?

Would YOU?

Why?

The Oracle of Delphi has the last word with a warning:

I warn you, whoever you are…O you who wish to fathom the arcanes of nature,

if you do not succeed in finding inside yourself what you seek

you will not find it even outside.

If you ignore the wonders of your own home, how can you pretend to find other wonders?

In you is found the occult Treasure of the Gods.

O man, know thyself and you will know

the Gods and the Universe.

Practice:

1) This little exercise of Vivekananda:

Close your eyes and see what picture appears

when you think of your “I”.

Is it the picture of your body that comes, or of your mental nature?

If so, you have not realized your true “I” yet. The time will come, however, when as soon as you say “I” you will see the universe, the Infinite Being.

Then you will have realized your true Self and found that you are infinite.

That is the truth: you are the spirit, not matter.

2) Meditate on this passage of Ramana Maharshi:

You are not to think of other thoughts, such as `I am not this body’.

Seeking the source of `I’ serves as a means

of getting rid of all other thoughts.

Keep the attention fixed on finding out the source of the `I’ – thought by asking, as each thought arises, to whom the thought arises. If the answer is `I get the thought’ continue the enquiry by asking

As you listen more and more to the teachings, contemplate them, and integrate them into your life, your inner voice, your innate wisdom of discernment, what we call in Buddhism “discriminating awareness,” is awakened and strengthened, and you begin to distinguish between its guidance and the various clamorous and enthralling voices of ego.

How do you know what you are?You are what you think you are.You are what you believe you are.You are what others say that you are.You are what you feel that you are.You are what you sense that you are.But do you really need a mirror to know you are?What mental activity is required to know that you are?